In this paper we describe an algorithm that performs
automatic detection and tracking of astral microtubules in fluorescence
confocal images. This sub-population of microtubules only exists during
and immediately before mitosis and aids in the spindle orientation by
connecting it to the cell cortex. Anomalies in their dynamic behaviour
play a causal role in many diseases, such as development disorders and
cancer.
The main novelty of the proposed algorithm lies in the fact it provides a
fully automated estimation of parameters related to microtubule dynamic
instability (growth velocity, track length and track lifetime), and helps in
understanding the effects of intermediate drug concentrations. Its performance
has been objectively assessed using publicly available synthetic
data and largely employed metrics. Moreover, we present experiments
addressing cell cultures doped with different concentrations of taxol
and nocodazole. Such drugs are known to suppress the microtubule
dynamic instability, but their effects at intermediate concentrations are
not completely assessed. The algorithm been compared with other stateof-
the-art approaches, tested on consistent real datasets. The results are
encouraging in terms of performance, robustness and simplicity of use,
and the algorithm is now routinely employed in our Department of
Molecular Biotechnology
